[Ppnews] American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61

[Political Prisoner News]

American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61


The Associated Press - Thursday, February 19, 2009

http://www.grandforksherald.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D96EP0E85
PORTLAND, Ore.

Robert Robideau, an American Indian activist who 
was acquitted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 
shootout in South Dakota, has died. He was 61.

Robideau had been living in Barcelona, Spain, 
where authorities said that his death Tuesday may 
have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel 
left in his head from an accidental explosion.

Robideau, a Portland native, was the cousin of 
Leonard Peltier and a member of the American 
Indian Movement who had occupied the reservation 
town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973, two years before the shootout.

His son, Michael, told The Oregonian that 
Robideau attended Roosevelt High School and 
received a degree in cultural anthropology from Portland State University.

The newspaper said that Robideau left for South 
Dakota in the early 1970s with several family 
members, including Peltier, to join AIM and its 
protests against poverty and corruption on tribal reservations.

In June 1975, two FBI agents followed a man 
wanted in the theft of a pair of cowboy boots 
onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The 
agents soon came under heavy rifle fire and were killed.

The FBI identified Peltier as a suspect in the 
shooting and placed him on its most wanted list.

Months later, Robideau was driving Peltier's 
station wagon through Kansas with other AIM 
members when ammunition in the car accidentally exploded.

Robideau, who was seriously injured, was arrested 
and tried for the FBI agent killings, but was acquitted.

Peltier was arrested by Oregon State Police 
troopers while driving through Oregon and later 
convicted of the FBI shootings. He is serving two life sentences.

Robideau appeared in "Incident at Oglala," the 
1992 documentary about the Pine Ridge shootings 
narrated by actor Robert Redford and directed by Michael Apted.

Robideau later became a painter, concentrating on 
tribal themes. He led a committee seeking a 
pardon for Peltier and served as director of the 
American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, 
which displayed some of his paintings.

He is survived by his wife, Pilar of Barcelona, 
Spain; and sons, Michael of Portland and Bobby of South Dakota.

___

Information from: The Oregonian, 
<http://www.oregonlive.com>http://www.oregonlive.com

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights 
reserved. The information contained in the AP 
News report may not be published, broadcast, 
rewritten or redistributed without the prior 
written authority of The Associated Press.




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